21 May,2026 02:10 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Pritam on Mashooqa plagiarism (Photo Credit/Instagram, YouTube)
As the buzz around Cocktail 2 continues to grow, the makers recently released another romantic track, Mashooqa, from the film. While a section of the audience enjoyed the peppy number, netizens were quick to compare the song's tune to Se So Arrubate A Nonna by Italian duo Bibi & Coco. Pritam has now addressed the Mashooqa plagiarism allegations and clarified that every tune and word is original.
Late on Wednesday night, Pritam posted a strongly worded note on Instagram Stories, which read, "Every single one of my song releases comes with a set of self-appointed music detectives, who have created a new genre called âimaginary similarities'. Same people, same âinspired by' thesis. Boss, at this point, you are my unpaid PR team. I just want to say, guys, NOT NICE."
A Reddit user recently shared clips from the latest song alongside the 1993 track, highlighting the striking similarities between the tunes. Soon, several users joined the discussion, claiming that the music sounded almost identical.
This is not the first time Pritam has faced allegations linked to similarities in music. The National Award-winning composer had also dealt with "inspiration" accusations during the early years of his career.
Cocktail 2's song Mashooqa, featuring Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon, has been composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. It has been voiced by Raghav Chaitanya and Mahmood Ruaa Kayy, with the Italian portions written and performed by Mahmood.
It might be interesting to know that Mashooqa was released at an exclusive listening event for the media and fans. During the event, the makers unveiled not one, but two unreleased tracks from the film - Mashooqa and Tujhko, featuring Rashmika and Shahid. The attendees were asked to vote for the song they wanted to see released first, and "Mashooqa" emerged victorious with slightly more votes.
Directed by Homi Adajania, Cocktail 2 also features Rashmika Mandanna in a lead role. It serves as a spiritual sequel to the 2012 hit Cocktail, which starred Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, and Diana Penty. The film is set to release in theatres on June 19.
